KC Chiefs: Five Worst Starting Quarterbacks In Team History
Lyle Alzado #77 of the Denver Broncos puts pressure on Tony Adams #11 of the Kansas City Chiefs (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
I researched the older days of the Kansas City Chiefs quarterbacks for this article, and Tony Adams was pretty awful for the team back in the 1970s. Adams was a 14th round pick by the San Diego Chargers in 1974, but never ended up playing for them.
Instead, Adams headed to the World Football League as a member of the Southern California Sun in 1974. He experienced success in the WFL, throwing for 3,905 yards, 23 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. Adams went on to lead his team to the WFL Western Division title, but they ultimately lost in the championship game.
Overall, Adams played in 50 games and started seven of them over the span of four years. He was only able to come away with one victory during that time.
From there, Adams decided to try his luck in the National Football League when he got a chance with the Kansas City Chiefs. Don’t let the four years in Kansas City fool you… Adams was not good. He was never the permanent starter and rotated starting time with other players.
His first season in the NFL was Len Dawson‘s final year and Adams played in two games that year with Dawson playing in five and Mike Livingston starting the most games, at seven. Adams didn’t start another game until 1977 where he ended up starting three games in place of Livingston. In 1978, Adams started two games and was out of the NFL after that season.
Overall, Adams played in 50 games and started seven of them over the span of four years. He was only able to come away with one victory during that time.
Adams’ stats were even worse. He threw nine touchdown passes to 22 interceptions. That’s almost Ryan Leaf bad!
Adams went on to play in the Canadian Football League for the Toronto Argonauts for two years (1979-1980) and then was out of football for several years. He did make a comeback to the NFL when he signed with the Minnesota Vikings in 1987, but it was as a strike replacement player. Adams started three games for the Vikings, but lost all three of them. He threw three touchdowns and five interceptions during his time with Minnesota.
I had no idea who Tony Adams was (and really, looking at those stats, why should I?), but I decided he deserved a spot on this list.
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